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We report the dependence of voltage-controlled magnetic anisotropy (VCMA) effect and its volatility on an underlayer (UL) in CoFeB/MgO structures. For a sample with Ta or Pt UL, the VCMA effect occurs when the applied gate voltage (Vg) exceeds a critical value, and it persists even after removing Vg. This is in contrast to the volatile VCMA effect and its linear dependence on Vg in a sample with W UL. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the volatility of the VCMA effect can be modified by introducing a Ta/W bilayer, enabling arbitrary control of the magnetic properties via VCMA effect.

Spin-orbit torque (SOT) has been studied extensively in a heavy-metal (HM)/ferromagnet (FM) bilayer structure, where a HM is an essential ingredient because a spin current is generated via the spin Hall effect within the HM layer and/or the Rashba-Edelstein effect from the HM/FM interface. Here, we report the observation of SOT in a ferrimagnetic $\mathrm{Tb}\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{Co}$ single layer with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy without a HM layer. Using harmonic Hall voltage measurements, we investigate the SOT-induced dampinglike effective field $({B}_{\mathrm{DL}})$ in a $\mathrm{Tb}\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{Co}$ layer; the sign of ${B}_{\mathrm{DL}}$ is opposite from that of a $\mathrm{Pt}/\mathrm{Tb}\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{Co}$ bilayer, and the magnitude of ${B}_{\mathrm{DL}}$ increases as the $\mathrm{Tb}\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{Co}$ composition approaches its magnetization compensation point. Moreover, we analyze the elemental composition of $\mathrm{Tb}\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{Co}$ as a function of film thickness using scanning transmission electron microscopy and electron energy-loss spectroscopy, indicating that the sign and magnitude of the SOT are virtually insensitive to the vertical composition gradient within the $\mathrm{Tb}\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{Co}$ layer. Our results demonstrate that the bulk spin-orbit interaction within the $\mathrm{Tb}\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{Co}$ layer itself plays a major role in generating SOT in a $\mathrm{Tb}\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{Co}$ single layer.

Spintronic devices offer low power consumption, built-in memory, high scalability and reconfigurability, and could therefore provide an alternative to traditional semiconductor-based electronic devices. However, for spintronic devices to be useful in computing, complementary logic operation using spintronic logic gates is likely to be required. Here we report a complementary spin logic device using electric-field controlled spin–orbit torque switching in a heavy metal/ferromagnet/oxide structure. We show that the critical current for spin–orbit-torque-induced switching of perpendicular magnetization can be efficiently modulated by an electric field via the voltage-controlled magnetic anisotropy effect. Moreover, the polarity of the voltage-controlled magnetic anisotropy can be tuned through modification of the oxidation state at the ferromagnet/oxide interface. This allows us to create both n-type and p-type spin logic devices and demonstrate complementary logic operation. Complementary logic devices based on spin–orbit torque can be created in which the tunable polarity of the voltage-controlled magnetic anisotropy effect is used to fabricate n-type and p-type spin logic devices.

We investigated the temperature distribution induced by laser irradiation of ultrathin magnetic films by applying a finite element method (FEM) to the finite difference time domain (FDTD) representation for the analysis of thermal induced spin currents. The dependency of the thermal gradient (∇T) of ultrathin magnetic films on material parameters, including the reflectivity and absorption coefficient were evaluated by examining optical effects, which indicates that reflectance (R) and the apparent absorption coefficient (α*) play important roles in the calculation of ∇T for ultrathin layers. The experimental and calculated values of R and α* for the ultrathin magnetic layers irradiated by laser-driven heat sources estimated using the combined FDTD and FEM method are in good agreement for the amorphous CoFeB and crystalline Co layers of thicknesses ranging from 3~20 nm. Our results demonstrate that the optical parameters are crucial for the estimation of the temperature gradient induced by laser illumination for the study of thermally generated spin currents and related phenomena.

Spin orbit torque (SOT) is essential to magnetization modulation in various ferromagnet/non-magnet bilayers. In this study, we demonstrated that SOT can be enhanced in a hybrid system composed of a perovskite oxide NdNiO3 (NNO) and a Ni81Fe19/Pt bilayer. We also find that the SOT enhancement might be attributed to spin absorption at the interface between the NNO and Ni81Fe19 layers. Our findings suggest that metal-oxide hybrid structures can be promising systems for the development of efficient spin–orbitronic devices.

Spin–orbit torque (SOT) originates from the spin–orbit interaction of non-magnetic heavy metals (HMs), allowing for an electrical manipulation of perpendicular magnetization in HM/ferromagnet (FM)/oxide structures. In this paper, we experimentally demonstrate the SOT-induced switching of two FM bits addressed with a single write line. We fabricate a device consisting of two perpendicularly magnetized Ta/CoFeB/MgO structures with a common Ta underlayer, in which the magnetization directions of the two FM bits could be concurrently controlled by injecting a single current pulse. This suggests that multiple bits in SOT-based devices can be written as either “0” or “1” at the same time. Moreover, the selective switching of a specific bit is achieved by differentiating the critical switching currents between the two FM bits, which is crucial in demonstrating multi-level cell SOT memory. Our results provide an efficient writing mechanism, enabling wider applications of SOT-based spintronic devices.

The hardness of irradiated AISI type 410 martensitic steel, which is utilized in structural and magnetic components of nuclear power plants, is investigated in this study. Proton irradiation of AISI type 410 martensitic steel samples was carried out by exposing the samples to 3 MeV protons up to a 1.0 × 1017 p/cm2 fluence level at a representative nuclear reactor coolant temperature of 350 °C. The assessment of deleterious effects of irradiation on the micro-structure and mechanical behavior of the AISI type 410 martensitic steel samples via transmission electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectroscopy and cross-sectional nano-indentation showed no significant variation in the microscopic or mechanical characteristics. These results ensure the integrity of the structural and magnetic components of nuclear reactors made of AISI type 410 martensitic steel under high-temperature irradiation damage levels up to approximately 5.2 × 10-3 dpa.

We investigated the dependence of tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) and its electric-field effect in CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJ) on different underlayer (UL) materials. We observed enhancements in the TMR ratio and its temperature dependence as well as electric-field effect in MTJs with W UL, as compared to those in MTJs with a conventional Ta UL. This is attributed to better thermal stability of perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) in W/CoFeB/MgO, which sustains up to 380 ° C, compared to that of Ta/CoFeB/MgO which starts to degrade at 270 ° C. This demonstrates that the PMA in a CoFeB/MgO structure and its electric-field dependence can be enhanced by the careful selection of underlayer, opening the way for the realization of electric-field effect-driven spintronic devices.

Antiferromagnetic spin waves have been predicted to offer substantial functionalities for magnonic applications due to the existence of two distinct polarizations, the right-handed and left-handed modes, as well as their ultrafast dynamics. However, experimental investigations have been hampered by the field-immunity of antiferromagnets. Ferrimagnets have been shown to be an alternative platform to study antiferromagnetic spin dynamics. Here we investigate thermally excited spin waves in ferrimagnets across the magnetization compensation and angular momentum compensation temperatures using Brillouin light scattering. Our results show that right-handed and left-handed modes intersect at the angular momentum compensation temperature where pure antiferromagnetic spin waves are expected. A field-induced shift of the mode-crossing point from the angular momentum compensation temperature and the gyromagnetic reversal reveal hitherto unrecognized properties of ferrimagnetic dynamics. We also provide a theoretical understanding of our experimental results. Our work demonstrates important aspects of the physics of ferrimagnetic spin waves and opens up the attractive possibility of ferrimagnet-based magnonic devices.

Anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) is well known magnetic phenomenon. Despite of its long history, a microscopic origin of AMR has not been fully understood due to lack of experimental technique. Here we exploit terahertz time domain spectroscopy (THz - TDS) to reveal the microscopic origin of AMR. Angle dependent resistivity and scattering time data shows that high resolution and stable THz - TDS is needed to resolve scattering time difference of AMR at room temperature.

Antiferromagnetic (AFM) oscillators are of interest because of their potential to operate at THz frequencies, and thus to fill the ``terahertz gap''. Previous studies on AFM oscillators have focused on using the spin Hall effect to generate spin current, but other mechanisms exist. Here the authors investigate using spin current with an arbitrary polarization direction that is not simply due to the spin Hall effect. Their results will be useful for application of such oscillators, and more broadly for understanding AFM spin dynamics.

We investigate the Hall resistance of metallic multilayers Ta/Cr/CoTb/Ta/Si. In addition to the anomalous Hall effect originating from the ferrimagnetic CoTb layer, the unconventional Hall effect (UHE) is observed in our multilayer samples. The UHE depends not only on the current and magnetic fields but also on the device geometry and temperature in a unique way. Our results suggest that the UHE does not originate from the spin–orbit torque driven magnetization tilting but occurs possibly due to thermionic emission and Lorentz force at the metal/Si interface, where the Schottky barrier is formed. We also find that the space-charge effect causes geometric dependence of the Hall resistance. The magnitude of UHE is sizable and linearly proportional to the longitudinal magnetic field, suggesting that the observed UHE is attractive to the magnetic-field sensing industry.

Integrated electronic circuitries with pressure sensors have been extensively researched as a key component for emerging electronics applications such as electronic skins and health-monitoring devices. Although existing pressure sensors display high sensitivities, they can only be used for specific purposes due to the narrow range of detectable pressure (under tens of kPa) and the difficulty of forming highly integrated arrays. However, it is essential to develop tactile pressure sensors with a wide pressure range in order to use them for diverse application areas including medical diagnosis, robotics or automotive electronics. Here we report an unconventional approach for fabricating fully integrated active-matrix arrays of pressure-sensitive graphene transistors with air-dielectric layers simply formed by folding two opposing panels. Furthermore, this realizes a wide tactile pressure sensing range from 250 Pa to ∼3 MPa. Additionally, fabrication of pressure sensor arrays and transparent pressure sensors are demonstrated, suggesting their substantial promise as next-generation electronics., Electronic skins and health monitoring devices rely on integrated tactile sensors, which often require tailored degrees of sensitivity in specific pressure ranges. Here, the authors fabricate a versatile matrix array of pressure-sensitive graphene transistors operating in the wide 250 Pa to 3 MPa pressure range.

Proper understanding of spin dynamics in the magnetic multilayer system is a necessary step for the fabrication of practical magnetic devices. In the present study, spin dynamics in the [Co/Ni] N /Ti multilayers at various Co and Ni layer thicknesses were obtained by optical method with the aim to identify the structural effects on the Gilbert damping constant of the multilayer system. It was found that the change of crystallinity and magnetocrystalline anisotropy depending on the relative thicknesses ratio of Co and Ni layers work as the main factor to determine the Gilbert damping behavior.

Spin-orbit torques arising from the spin-orbit coupling of non-magnetic heavy metals allow electrical switching of perpendicular magnetization. However, the switching is not purely electrical in laterally homogeneous structures. An extra in-plane magnetic field is indeed required to achieve deterministic switching, and this is detrimental for device applications. On the other hand, if antiferromagnets can generate spin-orbit torques, they may enable all-electrical deterministic switching because the desired magnetic field may be replaced by their exchange bias. Here we report sizeable spin-orbit torques in IrMn/CoFeB/MgO structures. The antiferromagnetic IrMn layer also supplies an in-plane exchange bias field, which enables all-electrical deterministic switching of perpendicular magnetization without any assistance from an external magnetic field. Together with sizeable spin-orbit torques, these features make antiferromagnets a promising candidate for future spintronic devices. We also show that the signs of the spin-orbit torques in various IrMn-based structures cannot be explained by existing theories and thus significant theoretical progress is required.

In this study, we report on an investigation of proton radiation resistance of 410 martensitic stainless steels under 3 MeV proton with the doses ranging from 1.0 × 10 15 to 1.0 × 10 17 p/cm² at the temperature 623 K. Vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) and X-ray diffractometer (XRD) were used to study the variation of magnetic properties and structural damages by virtue of proton irradiation, respectively. VSM and XRD analysis revealed that the 410 martensitic stainless steels showed proton radiation resistance up to 10 17 p/cm². Proton energy degradation and flux attenuations in 410 stainless steels as a function of penetration depth were calculated by using Stopping and Range of Ions in Matter (SRIM) code. It suggested that the 410 stainless steels have the radiation resistance up to 5.2 × 10 −3 dpa which corresponds to neutron irradiation of 3.5 × 10 18 n/cm². These results could be used to predict the maintenance period of SUS410 stainless steels in fission power plants.

Antiferromagnet (AFM)/ferromagnet (FM) bilayer structures are widely used in the magnetic devices of sensor and memory applications, as AFM materials can induce unidirectional anisotropy of the FM material via exchange coupling. The strength of the exchange coupling is known to be sensitive to quality of the interface of the AFM/FM bilayers. In this study, we utilize proton irradiation to modify the interface structures and investigate its effect on the magnetic properties of AFM/FM structures, including the exchange bias and magnetic thermoelectric effect. The magnetic properties of IrMn/CoFeB structures with various IrMn thicknesses are characterized after they are exposed to a proton beam of 3 MeV and 1~5 × 10 14 ions/cm². We observe that the magnetic moment is gradually reduced as the amount of the dose is increased. On the other hand, the exchange bias field and thermoelectric voltage are not significantly affected by proton irradiation. This indicates that proton irradiation has more of an influence on the bulk property of the FM CoFeB layer and less of an effect on the IrMn/CoFeB interface.

The thermoelectric effect in various magnetic systems, in which electric voltage is generated by a spin current, has attracted much interest owing to its potential applications in energy harvesting, but its power generation capability has to be improved further for actual applications. In this study, the first instance of the formation of a spin thermopile via a simplified and straightforward method which utilizes two distinct characteristics of antiferromagnetic IrMn is reported: the inverse spin Hall effect and the exchange bias. The former allows the IrMn efficiently to convert the thermally induced spin current into a measurable voltage, and the latter can be used to control the spin direction of adjacent ferromagnetic materials. It is observed that a thermoelectric signal is successfully amplified in spin thermopiles with exchange-biased IrMn/CoFeB structures, where an alternating magnetic alignment is formed using the IrMn thickness dependence of the exchange bias. The scalable signal on a number of thermopiles allowing a large-area application paves the way toward the development of practical spin thermoelectric devices. A detailed model analysis is also provided for a quantitative understanding of the thermoelectric voltages, which consist of the spin Seebeck and anomalous Nernst contributions.

We investigated spin dynamics in micron-length scale patterned thin films using the GPU-based micromagnetic simulation program. Spin precessional motion was induced by a Gaussian-pulse magnetic field. The effective Gilbert damping was examined by tracking the precessional motion of the spins, and we found that the damping constant depends on the size and shape of the pattern as well as the externally applied magnetic field. Additional extrinsic damping generated around the edge region was attributed to the dephasing effect between the fundamental spin wave and other spin wave modes. We find that the effect of extrinsic damping could be eliminated by proper adjustments of sample size, external bias field, position, and area of observation.

Spin–orbit torque facilitates efficient magnetisation switching via an in-plane current in perpendicularly magnetised heavy-metal/ferromagnet heterostructures. The efficiency of spin–orbit-torque-induced switching is determined by the charge-to-spin conversion arising from either bulk or interfacial spin–orbit interactions or both. Here, we demonstrate that the spin–orbit torque and the resultant switching efficiency in Pt/CoFeB systems are significantly enhanced by an interfacial modification involving Ti insertion between the Pt and CoFeB layers. Spin pumping and X-ray magnetic circular dichroism experiments reveal that this enhancement is due to an additional interface-generated spin current of the non-magnetic interface and/or improved spin transparency achieved by suppressing the proximity-induced moment in the Pt layer. Our results demonstrate that interface engineering affords an effective approach to improve spin–orbit torque and thereby magnetisation switching efficiency.

Based on a theoretical study, we show that the interfacial Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction results in very efficient current-induced manipulation of a transverse domain wall in magnetic nanowires. The efficient domain wall motion is caused by combined effects of the domain wall distortion induced by the interfacial Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction and the damping-like spin–orbit spin transfer torque. We find that with reasonable parameters, the domain wall velocity reaches a few hundreds m/s at the current density of 10 7 A/cm 2 , which has never been achieved before. Our result will be beneficial for low-power operation of domain wall devices.

The magneto-optical polar Kerr spectra of CoFeB/MgO thin films on different kinds of underlayers (Hf, Pt) were investigated in order to understand the origin of the interfacial perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) in that structure. The Kerr spectra were measured by using real-time Kerr spectroscopy based on a fiber-coupled high-speed spectrometer in the photon energy range of 1.5 ~ 2.9 eV. The magneto-optical studies revealed that the magneto-optical proximity effect due to the Hf underlayer to CoFeB was weak, but the interfacial contribution of the Pt underlayer to the CoFeB was strong. The variation of the PMA as a function of the annealing conditions was also investigated, and a gradual enhancement of the PMA was observed with increasing annealing temperature for the Pt underlayer sample, but a gradual decay of the PMA was observed for the Hf underlayer sample. The magneto-optical studies showed that the formation of CoPt alloys at the Pt/CoFeB interface played an important role in the PMA of the Pt/CoFeB/MgO structure at higher annealing temperature.

The planar Hall effect (PHE) in W/CoFeB/MgO structure with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy was investigated as a function of CoFeB thickness (tCoFeB). The PHE is measured by sweeping the in-plane magnetic field at various azimuthal angles as well as by rotating strong magnetic field which is enough to saturate the magnetization. We observed a huge PHE in the W/CoFeB/MgO sample, which is even larger than anomalous Hall effect (AHE). This is distinct from the results in Ta/CoFeB/MgO samples showing a much smaller PHE than AHE. Since the PHE is insensitive to the tCoFeB while the AHE is proportional to the tCoFeB, the unprecedented PHE can be attributed to the W layer with a large spin-orbit coupling.

In this study, we have systematically investigated a magnetic resonance absorption and tunability of absorption wavelength in isolated metal-insulator-metal (MIM) nanodot arrays with transmission geometry. The elemental electromagnetic resonances and their hybridizations are studied using 3-dimensional finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) calculation and resonance properties including the resonance peak tunability, magnetic permeability and quality ( Q ) factor are characterized with respect to the coupling strength. We have found the existence of electric and magnetic resonance mode in the MIM (Au/MgF 2 /Au) structure and the magnetic resonance has larger wavelength tunability than the electric resonance. The absorption cross section calculation revealed that absorption is the dominant extinction process at the magnetic resonance only. Magnetic permeability ( μ ) calculations for the various MIM parameters showed the maximum value of the imaginary part of μ is 16.1 with Q factor of 9.2 when the size of nanodot is 200 nm and the inter-dot distance is 300 nm. The presented calculations can be used to tune the response of the magnetic resonance absorption with a variable resonance wavelength and Q factor by using the simple MIM structures with transmission geometry.

After preparing carbon-doped FePt films by dc magnetron sputtering, we observed ultrafast demagnetization and its recovery by means of a time-resolved magneto-optical Kerr effect technique. We confirm that the degree of ordering is decreased and coercivity is changed, as the carbon concentration increases. All samples are demagnetized within ~5 ps after the femtosecond laser pulse heated the sample. Interestingly, ultrafast relaxation time, which indicates fast magnetization recovery, increases as the carbon concentration increases due to the low spin-orbit coupling of carbon.

Exchange coupling at the interface of an antiferromagnet and a ferromagnet is the major route toward the future magnetoelectric applications of multiferroic bismuth ferrite at room temperature. By using angle-resolved longitudinal magneto-optic Kerr effect microscopy, we have investigated the exchange anisotropy in a ferromagnetic Co layer adjacent to electrically aligned straight-stripe mixed-phase-boundary (MPB) regions of La-5%-doped $\mathrm{BiFe}{\mathrm{O}}_{3}$. We have found that the magnetic easy axis of the exchange-coupled Co layer becomes parallel to the in-plane crystallographic axis nearest to the adjacent MPB elongation axis. The coercive field of the exchange-coupled Co layer along the magnetic easy axis has prominently increased by $\ensuremath{\sim}66$ Oe, i.e., 30 times larger than that of a control sample (2.3 Oe), wherein a 5-nm-thick nonmagnetic Ta spacer is placed between the antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic layers and thus it is intended to have only the shape anisotropy arising from the surface nanostructure of the MPB regions. The finding opens a promising avenue for magnetoelectric applications at room temperature.

The composition of Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 (CIGS) films employed in CIGS solar cells is Cu deficient. There can be point defects, including Cu vacancies, Se vacancies, and metal anti-site defects. The surface composition and defects are not well controlled right after CIGS film fabrication with a three-stage co-evaporation process. This fabrication technique can result in a large variation in cell efficiency. In order to control the CIGS film in a reproducible way, we annealed the CIGS film in air, S, or Se. With this annealing procedure, the Cu content of the CIGS surface was significantly reduced and Ga content was strongly increased. An intrinsic CIGS layer with a lower valence-band maximum and a wider ban gap was formed at the surface. By annealing the CIGS film, the open-circuit voltage and fill factor were significantly improved, which indicates that the surface intrinsic layer acts as a hole-blocking layer so that the surface recombination rate is suppressed. In addition to CIGS film annealing, with subsequent annealing of the completed devices using rapid thermal annealing, the efficiency and reproducibility of CIGS solar cells were markedly improved.

We investigate spin Hall magnetoresistance (SMR) in heavy-metal (HM)/metallic-ferromagnet (FM) multilayers as a function of the FM thickness. We observe that the SMR is considerably modified when the FM layer is thinner than \ensuremath{\sim}1.5 nm, which is a critical thickness of a FM for the absorption or reflection of spin current generated from the spin Hall effect in a HM. Moreover, the FM thickness dependence of the SMR in HM/FM/HM trilayer structures relies on the relative signs of the spin Hall angle in HMs, indicating that there is non-negligible interaction between the accumulated spins at each HM/FM interface. We propose an analytical model of the SMR in a HM/FM/HM trilayer by incorporating the spin transmission through the HM/FM interfaces and the resultant interaction in the FM layer, which can explain the variation of the SMR with the relative signs of the spin Hall angle in HMs.

Topological spin structures such as magnetic domain walls, vortices, and skyrmions, have been receiving great interest because of their high potential application in various spintronic devices. To utilize them in the future spintronic devices, it is first necessary to understand the dynamics of the topological spin structures. Since inertial effect plays a crucial role in the dynamics of a particle, understanding the inertial effect of topological spin structures is an important task. Here, we report that a strong inertial effect appears steadily when a skyrmion is driven by an oscillating spin-Hall-spin-torque (SHST). We find that the skyrmion exhibits an inertia-driven hypocycloid-type trajectory when it is excited by the oscillating SHST. This motion has not been achieved by an oscillating magnetic field, which only excites the breathing mode without the inertial effect. The distinct inertial effect can be explained in terms of a spin wave excitation in the skyrmion boundary which is induced by the non-uniform SHST. Furthermore, the inertia-driven resonant excitation provides a way of experimentally estimating the inertial mass of the skyrmion. Our results therefore pave the way for the development of skyrmion-based device applications.

The magnetization direction in heavy-metal (HM)/ferromagnet bilayers can be electrically controlled by spin-orbit torque (SOT); however, the efficiency of the SOT which depends on the spin-orbit coupling of the HM layer or its spin-Hall angle has to be improved further for actual applications. In this study, we report a significant enhancement of the spin-Hall effect of Pt and resultant SOT in $\mathrm{Pt}/\mathrm{Co}/\mathrm{Al}{\mathrm{O}}_{x}$ structures by controlling the Pt resistivity. We observed that the effective spin-Hall angle increases about three times as the resistivity of Pt layer is increased 1.6 times by changing the Ar deposition pressure from 3 to 50 mTorr. This enhancement in effective spin-Hall angle is confirmed by the reduction in the critical current for SOT-induced magnetization switching. Furthermore, x-ray absorption spectroscopy analysis reveals a non-negligible contribution of the interfacial spin-orbit coupling to the effective spin-Hall angle. Our result, the efficient control of effective spin Hall angle by controlling the HM resistivity, paves the way to improved switching efficiency in SOT-active devices.

Magnetic torques generated through spin–orbit coupling1–8 promise energy-efficient spintronic devices. For applications, it is important that these torques switch films with perpendicular magnetizations without an external magnetic field9–14. One suggested approach 15 to enable such switching uses magnetic trilayers in which the torque on the top magnetic layer can be manipulated by changing the magnetization of the bottom layer. Spin currents generated in the bottom magnetic layer or its interfaces transit the spacer layer and exert a torque on the top magnetization. Here we demonstrate field-free switching in such structures and show that its dependence on the bottom-layer magnetization is not consistent with the anticipated bulk effects 15 . We describe a mechanism for spin-current generation16,17 at the interface between the bottom layer and the spacer layer, which gives torques that are consistent with the measured magnetization dependence. This other-layer-generated spin–orbit torque is relevant to energy-efficient control of spintronic devices. Spin–orbit torques are reported in ferromagnetic trilayers that lead to the switching of perpendicular magnetizations without an external magnetic field.

Control of magnetization in magnetic nanostructures is essential for development of spintronic devices because it governs fundamental device characteristics such as energy consumption, areal density, and operation speed. In this respect, spin-orbit torque (SOT), which originates from the spin-orbit interaction, has been widely investigated due to its efficient manipulation of the magnetization using in-plane current. SOT spearheads novel spintronic applications including high-speed magnetic memories, reconfigurable logics, and neuromorphic computing. Herein, recent advances in SOT research, highlighting the considerable benefits and challenges of SOT-based spintronic devices, are reviewed. First, the materials and structural engineering that enhances SOT efficiency are discussed. Then major experimental results for field-free SOT switching of perpendicular magnetization are summarized, which includes the introduction of an internal effective magnetic field and the generation of a distinct spin current with out-of-plane spin polarization. Finally, advanced SOT functionalities are presented, focusing on the demonstration of reconfigurable and complementary operation in spin logic devices.

Conventional semiconductor-based electronic devices can cause errors when they are exposed to cosmic rays. Magnetic memory has been proposed as an alternative because it consists of a metal structure free from radiation-induced errors in principle. In this study, we investigated the effects of proton and Cr ion irradiations on the magnetic and electric properties of a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ). We observed that the magnetic hysteresis and magnetoresistance of MTJ were not affected by proton irradiation of an energy of 20 MeV and dose levels up to 1 × 1018/m2, thus demonstrating good radiation hardness in response to the proton beam. On the other hand, when a MTJ was irradiated by a Cr ion beam of an energy of 20 keV and dose levels up to 1 × 1018/m2, its magnetic properties or magnetoresistance deteriorated, depending on the layer structure of the MTJ. A simulation study shows that this degradation may stem from radiation-energy dependent displacement damage in the magnetic layers, which can be avoided by the introduction of a proper protective layer.

Electric generation of spin current via spin Hall effect is of great interest as it allows an efficient manipulation of magnetization in spintronic devices. Theoretically, pure spin current can be also created by a temperature gradient, which is known as spin Nernst effect. Here, we report spin Nernst effect-induced transverse magnetoresistance in ferromagnet/non-magnetic heavy metal bilayers. We observe that the magnitude of transverse magnetoresistance in the bilayers is significantly modified by heavy metal and its thickness. This strong dependence of transverse magnetoresistance on heavy metal evidences the generation of thermally induced pure spin current in heavy metal. Our analysis shows that spin Nernst angles of W and Pt have the opposite sign to their spin Hall angles. Moreover, our estimate implies that the magnitude of spin Nernst angle would be comparable to that of spin Hall angle, suggesting an efficient generation of spin current by the spin Nernst effect., Pure spin current generated thermally in nonmagnetic materials known as spin Nernst effect has not been demonstrated experimentally. Here, the authors report the observation of spin Nernst effect by studying the thermally-induced transverse magnetoresistance in ferromagnet/non-magnet heavy metal bilayers

Galceran, Regina et al., Antiferromagnetic spintronics is an emerging field; antiferromagnets can improve the functionalities of ferromagnets with higher response times, and having the information shielded against external magnetic field. Moreover, a large list of aniferromagnetic semiconductors and metals with Néel temperatures above room temperature exists. In the present manuscript, we persevere in the quest for the limits of how large can anisotropic magnetoresistance be in antiferromagnetic materials with very large spin-orbit coupling. We selected IrMn as a prime example of first-class moment (Mn) and spin-orbit (Ir) combination. Isothermal magnetotransport measurements in an antiferromagnetic-metal(IrMn)/ferromagnetic-insulator thin film bilayer have been performed. The metal/insulator structure with magnetic coupling between both layers allows the measurement of the modulation of the transport properties exclusively in the antiferromagnetic layer. Anisotropic magnetoresistance as large as 0.15% has been found, which is much larger than that for a bare IrMn layer. Interestingly, it has been observed that anisotropic magnetoresistance is strongly influenced by the field cooling conditions, signaling the dependence of the found response on the formation of domains at the magnetic ordering temperature., We acknowledge financial support from the Spanish MINECO (MAT-2015-71664-R, MAT2015-73839-JIN) and FEDER program. We also acknowledge support from the ERC Advanced grant no. 268066, from the Ministry of Education of the Czech Republic Grant No. LM2015087, from the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic Grant no. 14–37427. ICMAB-CSIC authors acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, through the “Severo Ochoa” Programme for Centres of Excellence in R&D (SEV- 2015-0496). R.G. thanks the Spanish MINECO for the financial support through the FPI program and funding from Marie-Curie-ITN 607904-SPINOGRAPH. I.F. acknowledges the Beatriu de Pinós postdoctoral scholarship (2011 BP-A_2 00014) from AGAUR-Generalitat de Catalunya. B.-G.P. acknowledges support from NRF of Korea funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning (NRF-2014R1A2A1A11051344 and 2015M3D1A1070465). We finally thank Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin for the allocation of synchrotron radiation beamtime, and Dr. Daniel M. Többens for his kind assistance during data collection.

Antiferromagnetic spintronics is attracting considerable interest nowadays as the antiferromagnet is immune to external magnetic fields [1] and compatible with metal or semiconductor electronic structure [2]. To be used as functional devices, one has to find an efficient driving force to manipulate antiferromagnet spins. The effect of spin transfer torque (STT) on antiferromagnetic spins has been identified [3]. Recently, Hals et. al, [4] reported a theory of STT-induced dynamics of antiferromagnetic domain wall (AF-DW) and found that the DW velocity is proportional to the ratio between the dissipative torque and the damping, as for ferromagnet (FM) DWs.

Spin transistors and spin Hall effects have been two separate leading directions of research in semiconductor spintronics which seeks new paradigms for information processing technologies. We have brought the two directions together to realize an all-semiconductor spin Hall effect transistor. Our scheme circumvents semiconductor-ferromagnet interface problems of the original Datta-Das spin transistor concept and demonstrates the utility of the spin Hall effects in microelectronics. The devices use diffusive transport and operate without electrical current, i.e., without Joule heating in the active part of the transistor. We demonstrate a spin AND logic function in a semiconductor channel with two gates. Our experimental study is complemented by numerical Monte Carlo simulations of spin-diffusion through the transistor channel., Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures

Successful incorporation of the spin degree of freedom in semiconductor technology requires the development of a new paradigm allowing for a scalable, non-destructive electrical detection of the spin-polarization of injected charge carriers as they propagate along the semiconducting channel. In this paper we report the observation of a spin-injection Hall effect (SIHE) which exploits the quantum-relativistic nature of spin-charge transport and which meets all these key requirements on the spin detection. The two-dimensional electron-hole gas photo-voltaic cell we designed to observe the SIHE allows us to develop a quantitative microscopic theory of the phenomenon and to demonstrate its direct application in optoelectronics. We report an experimental realization of a non-magnetic spin-photovoltaic effect via the SIHE, rendering our device an electrical polarimeter which directly converts the degree of circular polarization of light to a voltage signal., Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures

We theoretically investigate dynamics of antiferromagnetic domain walls driven by spin-orbit torques in antiferromagnet/heavy metal bilayers. We show that spin-orbit torques drive antiferromagnetic domain walls much faster than ferromagnetic domain walls. As the domain wall velocity approaches the maximum spin-wave group velocity, the domain wall undergoes Lorentz contraction and emits spin-waves in the terahertz frequency range. The interplay between spin orbit torques and the relativistic dynamics of antiferromagnetic domain walls leads to the efficient manipulation of antiferromagnetic spin textures and paves the way for the generation of high frequency signals in antiferromagnets., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures

We have investigated the effect of Hf insertion in the Al oxide tunnel barrier on the properties of magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs). MTJs with Hf inserted barrier show the higher tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) ratio and less temperature and bias voltage dependence of TMR than MTJs with a conventional AlO barrier. The enhancement of TMR ratio and the reduction of the temperature and bias voltage dependence might be due to the reduction of defects in the barrier. Al-Hf oxide was formed by depositing Al and Hf simultaneously, and oxidizing the compound films. The TMR ratio of 36% was almost the same value as that with Hf inserted barrier. This implies that the inserted Hf layers mixed with Al layers during deposition or oxidation, and they might form Al Hf oxide barriers. This compound Al Hf oxide formation may be responsible to reduction of defect concentration which enhanced the TMR ratio and reduced temperature and bias-voltage dependence.

In order to study the effects of free layer thickness on MR ratio and switching field, we changed the free layer material and its thickness. In the regime of an extremely thin free layer, both MR ratio and switching field decreased with decreasing free layer thickness. There is a critical thickness, at which no MR behavior was found. The MTJs with NiFe and CoFe free layers show no MR ratio below 1.5 nm and 1 nm, respectively. No MR behavior is associated with discontinuous film formation below a certain thickness. The difference of the critical thickness is associated with the different wettability of the free layer material on the aluminum oxide surface.

The phenomena based on spin-orbit interaction in heavy metal/ferromagnet/oxide structures have been investigated extensively due to their applicability to the manipulation of the magnetization direction via the in-plane current. This implies the existence of an inverse effect, in which the conductivity in such structures should depend on the magnetization orientation. In this work, we report a systematic study of the magnetoresistance (MR) of W/CoFeB/MgO structures and its correlation with the current-induced torque to the magnetization. We observe that the MR is independent of the angle between the magnetization and current direction but is determined by the relative magnetization orientation with respect to the spin direction accumulated by the spin Hall effect, for which the symmetry is identical to that of so-called the spin Hall magnetoresistance. The MR of ~1% in W/CoFeB/MgO samples is considerably larger than those in other structures of Ta/CoFeB/MgO or Pt/Co/AlOx, which indicates a larger spin Hall angle of W. Moreover, the similar W thickness dependence of the MR and the current-induced magnetization switching efficiency demonstrates that MR in a non-magnet/ferromagnet structure can be utilized to understand other closely correlated spin-orbit coupling effects such as the inverse spin Hall effect or the spin-orbit spin transfer torques.